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Touki Bouki

A shifting and fragmentary tale of two young lovers, Mory and Anta, and their attempts to flee Senegal for Paris, Touki Bouki is Senegalese auteur Djibril Diop Mambéty's masterpiece.

"Touki Bouki is a prophetic film. Its portrayal of 1973 Senegalese society is not too different from today’s reality. Hundreds of young Africans die every day at the Strait of Gibraltar trying to reach Europe (Melilla and Ceuta). Who has never heard of that before? All their hardships find their voice in Djibril’s film: the young nomads who think they can cross the desert ocean and find their own lucky star and happiness but are disappointed by the human cruelty they encounter. Touki Bouki is a beautiful, upsetting and unexpected film that makes us question ourselves. What a pleasure and what an achievement for Martin Scorsese’s Foundation to give Djibril Diop Mambéty a second life. To all those who support cinema: bravo!" (Souleymane Cissé, May 2008)